Mickey Kaus is claiming that John McCain is wobbling
on judges, a claim that has been picked up by the Corner, and Instapundit, but I they are misinterpreting McCain.
The impetus for the charge is a Politico
report on a McCain meeting with disgruntled Clinton supporters,
in which one former Clintonite is quoted as saying he was happy
McCain "pointed out that he supported Bill Clinton with both
Ginsberg and Breyer."
But this is nothing new. In his
speech on the judiciary at Wake Forest last month that I
attended, McCain cited his votes for liberal judges as a way of
attacking Obama for not voting for John Roberts and Samuel Alito,
even though they were well qualified.
Here's what McCain said publicly at Wake Forest:
I have my own standards of judicial ability, experience,
philosophy, and temperament. And Chief Justice Roberts and Justice
Samuel Alito meet those standards in every respect. They would
serve as the model for my own nominees if that responsibility falls
to me. And yet when President Bill Clinton nominated Stephen Breyer
and Ruth Bader Ginsberg to serve on the high court, I voted for
their confirmation, as did all but a few of my fellow Republicans.
Why? For the simple reason that the nominees were qualified, and it
would have been petty, and partisan, and disingenuous to insist
otherwise. Those nominees represented the considered judgment of
the president of the United States. And under our Constitution, it
is the president's call to make.
My guess is that McCain said something along these
lines, rather than that he actually wants more justices in the mod
of Breyer and Ginsberg.
topics:
John McCain, Bill Clinton, Constitution
